Barça and Nico Williams have reached a full agreement, but the summer headache still needs to be resolved.

BarcelonaNico Williams is eager to play with Lamine Yamal and the path is clear: waiting to resolve the fair play financial, which is the main obstacle that Joan Laporta has had since he won the 2021 elections,Barça has already verbally agreed with him on the terms of his future contract. It would last six seasons (until 2031) precisely to spread out payments as much as possible and limit the salary cap in the short term. It's the same strategy followed with Joan Garcia, who will earn a little more each year. In Williams' case, transfer market journalist Fabrizio Romano suggests he will earn between €8 and €9 million net, which will put him at the top of the Barça salary scale, but substantially below Lamine Yamal.

A year after Barça were on the verge of signing Nico and the deal ultimately fell through due to the pressure Athletic Club exerted on its star player—improving his terms and giving him the number 10 jersey—and the lack of guarantees the signings saw. And the rough edges have been smoothed over, as President Laporta was displeased by the Navarrese winger's refusal last summer. Dani Olmo finally arrived and had to work hard to register him: first, thanks to Andreas Christensen's long-term injury (and the salary cap it freed up), and then, thanks to the complicity of the CSD (Spanish National Sports Council).

This summer, the film is somewhat better - it is moving forward at full speed with the lever to be able to sell out the boxes in advance VIP of the new Camp Nou - and the club, although it doesn't have it yet, is confident that before the start of the competition it will have the green light from La Liga to operate normally in the market. Currently, it is still outside the 1:1 rule (which means registering players for the same value as the one released) and now it could not consider registering either the Navarrese winger or Joan Garcia.

However, if it returns to 1:1, it would also have to generate salary space of between 25 and 30 million euros to accommodate the salaries and amortization of both players. In other words, it needs to get rid of players who are earning a lot of money - Ansu Fati, Ter Stegen, Christensen... - or have some capital gains in the form of a transfer: Araujo, Fermín...

More excitement than ever in an important year for Joan Laporta

There's a lot of work to be done in the offices to see Garcia in goal in an official match and for the good intentions—expressed in a verbal agreement—with Williams to materialize into a signing that will delight Barcelona fans. However, while the arrival of the Sallent-born goalkeeper from Espanyol was made official on Wednesday for €25 million, Laporta is equally optimistic about being able to pay the €58 million upfront so that Williams can break his contract with one of the most contentious clubs with his governing role at Camp Nou, Athletic Club.

The president knows that the squad needs tweaking to compete better next season and is also aware that, in a pre-election year, he needs members and fans to be even more engaged in what happens on the pitch of the new Camp Nou, which is about to reopen its doors. And, in that sense, Nico Williams, 22, a good friend of Lamine Yamal, is the most high-profile name. Above Luis Diaz, 28, who Deco saw as a better fit for the squad.